Books: Louise Erdrich wins her fifth Minnesota Book Award

Louise Erdrich won her fifth Minnesota Book Award on Saturday, April 13, for her novel "The Round House," making her the most-honored author in the Book Awards' 25-year history.

Awards in eight categories were presented during the Book Awards' 25th anniversary gala at the Hilton Minneapolis hotel. More than 800 people attended the ceremony, presented by Marvin Windows and Doors and hosted by comedian and author Lorna Landvik.

Erdrich isn't the only multiple award-winner. David LaRochelle and David Treuer now have won twice and David Housewright three times.

Here are the winners, with category sponsors in parentheses.

Children's Literature(Books for Africa) -- David LaRochelle, "It's a Tiger!" (Chronicle Books). The main character runs into (and away from) a tiger while the plot gets sillier and sillier.

General Nonfiction (Minnesota AFL-CIO) -- David Treuer, "Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life" (Atlantic Monthly Press/Grove/Atlantic). Treuer's first major work of nonfiction centers on Ojibwe reservation communities of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin; the first book by an insider about what Indian reservations are, why they exist and where they are going.

Genre Fiction (Marvin Windows and Doors) -- David Housewright, "Curse of the Jade Lily" (Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press). In the ninth book in the author's Rushmore McKenzie crime series, thieves steal the 200-year-old Jade Lily from a Minneapolis museum and offer to sell it back, demanding that unlicensed private eye McKenzie act as go-between.

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Memoir/Creative Nonfiction (Leonard, Street and Deinard) -- Atina Diffley, "Turn Here Sweet Corn: Organic Farming Works" (University of Minnesota Press). A memoir about relationships with the Earth, plants and animals, families and communities in the face of challenges from weather to corporate politics, by the co-owner of one of the first certified organic produce farms in the Midwest.

Minnesota (Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle MS&R) -- Gwen Westerman and Bruce White, "Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota" (Minnesota Historical Society Press). Examination of the history of the Dakota people and their deep cultural connection to their homeland.

Novel/Short Story (Education Minnesota) -- Louise Erdrich, "The Round House" (Harper/HarperCollins). A woman living on a North Dakota reservation is attacked and traumatized; her husband, a tribal judge, tries to find justice, and her 13-year-old son sets out with three friends to get some answers. Also winner of the National Book Award and an American Library Association award for one of the 10 best adult books that appeal to teens.

Poetry (Wellington Management Inc.) -- Patricia Kirkpatrick, "Odessa" (Milkweed Editions). When brain cancer leaves the speaker fighting a tumor pressing against her amygdalae, the "emotional core of the self," she creates from loss a dreamlike reality in Odessa, a refuge that resembles simultaneously the Midwestern prairie and a mythical god-inhabited city. Winner of Milkweed's first annual Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry.

Young People's Literature (Sit Investment Associates) -- Geoff Herbach, "Nothing Special" (Sourcebooks Fire/Sourcebooks). Follow-up to "Stupid Fast," focusing on Felton Reinstein, a big teen who's a kid on the inside. When his little brother takes off for another state, Felton and his pal go after him.

The Kay Sexton Award for lifelong contributions to Minnesota's literary community, sponsored by Common Good Books, was presented to Robert Hedin, founding director of the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Red Wing and co-editor of The Great River Review.

Jana Pullman received the sixth annual Book Artist Award, sponsored by Lerner Publishing Group and Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Her work is on display at St. Paul's Central Library, 90 W. Fourth St., through April and will be exhibited statewide at other library locations during the year.

The Book Awards gala will be broadcast on future dates on St. Paul Neighborhood Network and TPT-MN Channel.

The 25th annual Minnesota Book Awards is a project of The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, with the St. Paul Public Library and the city.